This invention relates to a light-sensitive silver halide color photographic material, more specifically to a light-sensitive silver halide color photographic material using a novel two-equivalent yellow coupler which can be produced inexpensively and has excellent activity and also excellent image storability in a silver halide emulsion layer.
In recent years, in a light-sensitive silver halide color photographic material (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "a light-sensitive color material"), a two-equivalent coupler in which only two atoms of silver for forming one molecule of a dye are required by introducing a suitable substituent to coupling positions (active points) of a coupler which reacts with an oxidized product of a developing agent has been employed frequently in place of a conventional four-equivalent coupler which requires four atoms of silver for forming one molecule of a dye.
However, requirements of a coupler have become more strict with the progress of a light-sensitive color material. Not only improvement of activity but also further improvements of color reproducibility, image storability, solubility in low-boiling point and high-boiling point solvents and dispersion stability have been demanded.
As techniques for improving color reproducibility and activity, there has been known a yellow coupler having a heterocyclic compound with a cyclic imide structure as an eliminatable group and having an alkoxy group introduced to 2-position of an anilide portion. For example, in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 115219/1977, there is described a yellow coupler having an alkoxy group at 2-position of an anilide portion and having a hydantoin group or an urazol group as an eliminatable group. However, this coupler involves a drawback that light resistance is extremely poor due to a sulfamoyl group existing as a ballast group.
As techniques for improving light resistance while maintaining good color reproducibility, there have been known, for example, yellow couplers having an alkoxy group at 2-position and an acylamino group at 5-position of an anilide portion and having a hydantoin group or an urazol group as an eliminatable group as described in Japanese Provisional Patent Publications No. 6341/1975, No. 123047/1988, No. 125140/1991, No. 125141/1991 and No. 124661/1992. However, in these couplers, activity is slightly poor, so that they cannot satisfy the recent demand for heightening activity sufficiently.
As one means for further improving activity, there has been known a technique of increasing hydrophilicity of an eliminatable group. For example, in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 132926/1975, there is described a yellow coupler in which 2-position and 5-position of an anilide portion are substituted by an alkoxy group and an aryloxy group-substituted alkylacylamino group, respectively, and an unsubstituted urazol group is present at a nitrogen atom as an eliminatable group. Also, in Japanese Provisional Patent Publications No. 209241/1991, No. 209242/1991, No. 209243/1991, No. 209244/1991, No. 209460/1991, No. 209461/1991, No. 209462/1991, No. 209463/1991, No. 209464/1991, No. 209265/1991, No. 209466/1991, No. 209467/1991, No. 209470/1991, No. 211548/1991, No. 211549/1991 and No. 229248/1991, there are described yellow couplers in which 2-position and 5-position of an anilide portion are substituted by an aryloxy group and an unsubstituted alkylacylamino group, respectively, and an unsubstituted hydantoin group is present at a nitrogen atom as an eliminatable group. However, in these couplers, hydrophilicity of the eliminatable group is offset by the aryloxy group existing as a substituent so that activity has not yet reached a sufficiently satisfactory level.